Flood in Tyler County, West Virginia

Middle Island Creek at Little rose above its bankfull level on April 11th, just before midnight. The creek crested to around 20.1 feet on the evening of the 12th and then returned to its banks the next morning. Flooding reached private cabins and the access road near the Friendly Road bridge. Cabins and the bait house near the gauge also experienced flooding. Several primary and secondary roads flooded in low areas along Middle Island Creek and tributaries flowing into Middle Island Creek.

Showers and thunderstorms developed on the afternoon of April 11th due to the combination of unseasonably warm temperatures and a passing disturbance. Storms crossed in from the Ohio River Valley during the early afternoon and continued an eastward progression into the evening. A swath of tree damage and power outages were observed from Mingo County to the eastern half of the West Virginia from damaging wind gusts. Storms pressed eastward late on the evening of April 11th.

In addition, numerous areas of flooding transpired that afternoon and evening in response to heavy downpours and training storms throughout the state. The Charleston airport set records for the wettest April as a result of observing 3.32 inches of rainfall on April 11th, breaking the old record of 1.83 inches set back in 1965.

High water issues along state roads were the main impacts from the flooding, some of which needed water rescues for cars that drove into these trouble spots. Excess water eventually drained into the Ohio River on the 12th and 13th of April, returning to its banks a few days later. One fatality occurred in Wood County on the 14th, when a motorist drove past high water signs and their vehicle became submerged.